A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that EPA’s termination of $600 million in environmental justice grants issued by the Biden administration for low-income areas and communities of color was unlawful.
The ruling over the Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program comes as EPA is separately appealing a ruling that its termination of $20 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants was also unlawful. Congressional Republicans have proposed rescinding funding for both grant programs as part of their reconciliation bills.
The Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program was part of a $2.8 billion tranche of funding under the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act intended for community groups to provide block grants to address pollution that takes a disproportionately heavy toll on communities of color and low-income and rural areas.
Announced in December 2023, EPA selected 11 groups to disburse the funds to subrecipients, a setup the Biden administration argued would help the groups cut through red tape and access the money more easily.
